Cudras
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian police forces confiscated a 1.5 tons haul of illegal drugs in Southeastern Iran, a local official announced on Saturday.
An armed drug smuggling cell that had planned to transfer the huge consignment of narcotics from the border region to the center of the country was spotted by the security forces of Saravan in the Southeastern Iranian Province of Sistan and Baluchistan, said Police Chief of the province Brigadier General Mohammad Qanbari today.
The smuggling cell was detained in an ambush that also resulted in seizure of some weapons as well as a pickup and a Peugeot sedan.
Bordering Pakistan, Sistan and Baluchistan and has one of the porous frontiers that is used by smugglers.
Iran is in the forefront of the fight against drug trafficking and thousands of Iranian police forces have been so far martyred to protect the world from the danger of drugs.
Late in January, the Police of Iran’s Province of Alborz announced that the entity had seized more than 9 tons of various illicit drugs during an 11 month span till then.
On December 5, Iran’s Coast Guard forces confiscated a 1.2 ton haul of narcotics in the Southern Province of Bushehr in the Persian Gulf, arresting a suspect in the operation.
Earlier in November, the coast guards seized an opium haul of 960 kg in Genaveh Port, located near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf.
The Iranian anti-narcotic police have always staged periodic, but short-term, operations against drug traffickers and dealers, but the latest reports – which among others indicate an improved and systematic dissemination of information – reveal that the world’s most forefront and dedicated anti-narcotic force (as UN drug-campaign assessments put it) has embarked on a long-term countrywide plan to crack down on the drug trade since 8 years ago.
The Iranian police officials maintain that drug production in Afghanistan has undergone a 40-fold increase since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
Afghan and western officials blame Washington and NATO for the change, saying that allies have “overlooked” the drug problem since invading the country more than 16 years ago.
